Thursday 22nd January
Rio De Janeiro
We have sailed south along the coast of Brazil to Rio de Janeiro. From our ship we can see the place we are visiting this morning - Corcovado Mountain which is 2,400 feet high. To get to the top we took the cogwheel railway and then walked up a series of steps to reach the 150 foot high statue of Christ the Redeemer that looks over Rio. It's an amazing statue. The views from here are also wonderful and we were fortunate as it was clear - later on there was cloud around the statue. After this our coach took us on a ride passed the beaches of Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana, before taking us back to the ship. After lunch we returned to Copacabana Beach. There was a lot more cloud in the afternoon but the temperature was still 30 and it was lovely on the beach. The tide was coming in and the waves were getting quite strong. We walked along the sand with the waves washing over our feet - it was wonderful. We stopped at one of the many beach bars to have a refreshing cold beer and soak up the atmosphere.
Our ship was in Rio until late in the evening and when it got dark, from the deck, we could see that the statue of Christ lit up. The evening brought a thunderstorm and we watched the lighting from the open back deck. Lots of rain but still very warm. We have had a really lovely day here in Rio.